Shafer was unaware of the endorsement, having spent the morning at President Obama’s campaign event in Golden. But she expressed her appreciation — and surprise at being the lone Democrat on the NFIB list.

Even with Gov. John Hickenlooper selling it in person, a proposal to privatize Pinnacol Assurance – the state-chartered worker’s compensation insurance fund – got a cool reception today from a special panel looking at the deal.

The Pinnacol Assurance Stakeholders Task Force didn’t take an official vote on the proposal, but a straw poll of the panel members present, a group representing business associations, labor unions, non-profits and civic leaders, showed more than half to be either opposed or neutral. And many of those on the panel of two dozen members qualified their neutral stance with serious concerns about the proposal.

Hickenlooper, a Democrat, has been pushing hard on the privatization deal, which would turn Pinnacol, now a quasi-governmental entity that is a poltical subdivision of the state, into a mutual assurance company with the option to become a common stock company.

The original proposal from Pinnacol called for the state to receive an ownership stake worth 40 percent, with a $340 million face value, of what would be the new mutual assurance company.

The initial deal would pay the state $13.6 million a year in dividends, money that could be used for college scholarships and economic development.

Hickenlooper is now recommending the state’s share be increased to $350 million and that a $22 million injured-workers fund be created. That fund would be paid over 20 years with annual payments of $1.1 million.

In a blunt open letter, the state’s leading group for small business today called upon Republicans to stand up to Tea Party activists who oppose a bill that would set up health insurance exchanges.

Titled, “Time for Republicans to Vote for What They Believe In,” Tony Gagliardi, state director for the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said Republicans need to line up behind Senate Bill 200. He said passage of the bill is “the largest issue facing Colorado small business in at least a decade.

“”Here’s another truth that needs telling, and damn the political consequences, because the stakes are too high,” Gagliardi wrote. “Many of our Colorado legislators fear the wrath of Tea Party activists who have made support of Senate Bill 200, which would establish a health-care exchange similar to Utah’s, a needless ideological litmus test on which to oppose Republican lawmakers in primary elections.”

Gagliardi suggested that “it would be nice to have the power to import some good, old-fashioned Republicans from the Utah Legislature over to Denver to help steel the nerves of their counterparts in the Colorado House and Senate.”

Joey Bunch has been a reporter for 28 years, including the last 12 at The Denver Post. For various newspapers he has covered the environment, water issues, politics, civil rights, sports and the casino industry.